The following is an email I received detailing a serious probe on board American Airlines flight 62 traveling from Paris to Miami. The information comes to me second-hand  from a trusted source in the field. American Airlines spokesman John Hotard confirmed the incident on flight 62 with me, stating there was a disturbance on board, it was handled by crew. I asked Mr. Hotard the status of the men who were detained by FBI. Hotard told me for security reasons, I cant comment further.

Here it is, unedited:

This is not meant to scare, but it probably will. Consider yourself informed and warned that the threat is real. This crew reported that they were not prepared that something of this nature could be happening to them.

Flt 62, Paris to MIA [Miami], a few weeks ago. 2 maybe 4 mid-eastern types causing minor disturbance from the get-go. Nothing that the FAs [flight attendants] couldnt deal with, but, in hindsight, they seemed to be pushing the envelope. Cross-cabin activity, hanging out in the forward galley, complaining about everything, etc. Mid-Atlantic, the FO [First Officer, or Co-Pilot] called to return to the cockpit after his crew-rest break. One of the perps [perpetrators] was in the forward galley, was instructed by a FA to go aft, but didnt. As the cockpit door opened, another perp suddenly appeared from around the galley, dropped his shoulder into FO while the first one got in the way of the FOs attempt to block the other here Im not certain so .wait for the movie.

FO (one of our first FFDOs [Federal Flight Deck Officers*]) was about to pull his flashlight to use as a weapon in a counter attack, but thought better of it not knowing how many more perps he might have to fight, called lockdown to the FB [secondary B First Officer], inside the cockpit, who slammed the door. As soon as the perps heard the word lockdown, they retreated to their seats.

Im not doing justice to the story, but, if not an attempt on the cockpit, this was a serious probe.

Crew considered divert, but since the threat diminished and seemed to be contained, they pressed on towards MIA. Flight was met in MIA by FBI, FAMS [Federal Air Marshal Service] (none aboard, by the way), AA [American Airlines] Security suits, etc. During the de-brief, which lasted several hours, the FAMs told the pilots that they would have dropped both of the perps with the first shove near the cockpit door. Perps claimed to not understand English, were detained for 4 days and deported, back to Paris, when they are free to attend Sunday school, tell their buddies of their Adventure and plan their next move.

Enjoying the story so far? Its good we cant carry guns on Intl [International] trips, eh?

Upsetting is that we all have to learn of this, by happenstance. Why didnt you and your last crew know of this? We took a delay yesterday while this FB detailed the entire event to my crew. Believe me, there were no disbelievers that the terrorist threat is real in my crew by the time we boarded.

Im more than upset that this is still a secret! The FB is a man Ive flown with often, trust completely and attended FFDO (Federal Flight Deck Officer) training with a year ago January. I hope Ive presented his story accurately, but am certain that the basic details are very close.

***********************

On a separate note, American Airlines flight 63, also traveling from Paris to Miami, was the subject of a thwarted terrorist attack in December of 2001 when shoe bomber Richard Reid tried to bring down the aircraft by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes. Reid was later found guilty of terrorism charges in federal court in Massachusetts and sentenced to life in prison.

* Armed Federal Flight Deck Officers are not allowed to carry their guns while flying international routes.

Agree. Crews may have to forego breaks outside of the cockpit, or reevaluate their procedures against being waylaid when entering or leaving the cockpit. We evidently have muslim psychopaths in final stage of training, who are hot to finish Reid's job and take down an aircraft to get to their 72 virgins.

If they know the FO, etc. will come out at exactly 2 hours +/- a few minutes for his break, all they have to do is start some diversion in the galley over some stupid coffee or other trash, get the FA's distracted and wait for the door latch to move. The forward galleys should be OFF LIMITS to ALL passengers for a period of time when the FO's can do their business. This is a TRIAL RUN. Expect many more. I have no doubt that this was a PROBE of the defenses..........

13
posted on 03/05/2007 9:17:45 AM PST
by Red Badger
(Britney Spears shaved her head............Well, that's one way of getting rid of headlice.........)

They will keep trying until they succeed. Terrorists love big explosions and the mass deaths of innocents, which is why the airplane will continue to be the weapon of choice for the foreseeable future.

What would you suggest? I fly all the time and, especially on international flights...the lights are off half of the time, most people are sleeping, if you are in economy you have no idea what is going in the front section of the airplane, where most people are kicked back in recliners...it is scary easy to see how the cockpit could be breached in a flat second.

While I would hesitate to say this is not a probe of some sort, I would not be surprised to hear that these folks were more or less pushing the limits to cause a disturbance. I know that several Muslim groups in the U.S. have more or less advocated such "civil disobedience". The fact that these guys are not Americans obviously raises more flags when thinking about probing for future attacks--but I think that the real probers are going to be a little more cautious and discrete.

25
posted on 03/05/2007 9:37:10 AM PST
by nwctwx
(Everything I need to know, I learned on the Threat Matrix)

The whole thing, including the connected incident with the 5 Imams praying at the airport, could well be a diversion. Generally Muslims prefer targets that aren't ready to defend themselves. Aircraft have become hard targets. They only do this to keep the security bureaucrats thinking( ? ) about aircraft. Meanwhile the Muslims are planning something else. This is a feint in the war against Koranic tererny.

I'm expecting a attack from a sea-borne source. A boat or small craft laden with explosives on a cruise ship, military vessel or oil/cargo ship or drilling rig. That would send the global economy for a loop..............

31
posted on 03/05/2007 9:43:54 AM PST
by Red Badger
(Britney Spears shaved her head............Well, that's one way of getting rid of headlice.........)

I think the best way to deal with perps like this is to have it pre-arranged with the cockpit crew that upon a certain code word, the 'fasten seat belts' light comes on, the plane drops down to about 2000 feet, and the FFDOs and the FAs grab the sumb!tches, open the emergency door, and just throw their damn asses out.

If it's over land, they won't survive the fall, if it's over water, the sharks have to suck it up and eat some unappetizing food.

Problem solved.

When boarding, all passengers are given multi-language instructions which read "Want to arrive at your destination alive? - Do NOT interfere with the operation of this aircraft, nor with the crew. Any deviation may result in your experiencing a unexpected and violent death."

...would the flight crew allow the door to be opened with a passenger present who had already disobeyed the FA?!?

Exactly. There should have been some signal for the FO's to know there were unauthorized persons in the vicinity of the doors. Are there cameras for them to use to see what's going on outside their door?..........

33
posted on 03/05/2007 9:46:35 AM PST
by Red Badger
(Britney Spears shaved her head............Well, that's one way of getting rid of headlice.........)

I believe this, that the passengers, upon learning that ME men have taken a flight, will not allow it to continue, IMHO, viza viz Flight 93 type ction.

I might agree with you on US domestic flight, but this was an outbound from France. I'd assume that most passengers are French, not Americans returning home. I'm not so sure that the French passengers would react the same way.

I know that these are small spaces, but what about a double-door system, like an airlock. Have the FO exit the cockpit via the inner door, lock it, then open the outer door to the cabin? Put a camera and intercom in the between space.

I was just in France in December, picking up my son and touring northern France where he had served for the last two years with our church.

The politics in France is as split as it is here. I was impressed with how many solidly conservative people there were there and how many of them wished us, and America, God's speed, despite the antics of their own government. They hope to gain ground in their next elections...just as we hope to gain back lost ground ourselves.

So, I think there may well be enough who would act given what I experienced there in December.

36
posted on 03/05/2007 9:52:46 AM PST
by Jeff Head
(Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))

I believe this, that the passengers, upon learning that ME men have taken a flight, will not allow it to continue, IMHO, viza viz Flight 93 type ction. I don't know about you guys, but if I saw these assholes trying to rush the cabin, I wouldn't think twice about killing them.

I visited Paris (and had a number of people say the same things there), Orlean, Topurs, Nantes, Brest, and Cherbourg.

Having said that, one of their obvious and clear problems, and one these people had no problem articulating about just like many of us speak out about our own similar immigration problem, is that they have a large population of muslims who are very restless.

44
posted on 03/05/2007 10:13:44 AM PST
by Jeff Head
(Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))

One of the perps [perpetrators] was in the forward galley, was instructed by a FA to go aft, but didnt.

THAT should have triggered a "lockdown" and general high security status. On a commercial passenger aircraft, there should be ZERO tolerance for passengers not complying with crew members' instructions. No English? How much English does it take to understand when a crew member is pointing aft and saying something directly to you in a stern voice?

"No English" should not be an excuse, but it would be a good idea to have all passengers required to list what languages they understand when purchasing a ticket, and print an instruction on their ticket in one of those languages and in English that if any crew member says something to you that you don't understand, you should respond by immediately returning to your own seat and sitting down in it, or to a different seat if the crew member leads you to a different one. It's a simple concept, and wouldn't be hard to make part of common knowledge, just like buckling your seat belt for take-off and landing. It would enable passengers to demonstrate that they are attempting to behave appropriately, and enable crew to quickly identify passengers who are not attempting to behave appropriately and be legally protected if they use physical force to control such a passenger.

May or may not have been a probe, but I seriously doubt it was an attempt to take over the plane, unless they just wanted to destroy it alone. Mid-Atlantic is way too far out to use the plane as a weapon.

We must let our people be armed on international flights. These two terrorists should have been dropped on this flight...but there was no one with the weapon to do so.

I'm not so sure about that. It's very difficult to tell who "our people" are, given that some people who have been firmly identified as terrorist operatives are US citizens with no criminal record. And even genuinely well-intentioned US citizens can be muddle-headed or paranoid. Some passenger who's terrified from the start about possible terrorist activity on his flight might be trigger-happy -- e.g. might have responded to a commotion like this one by firing at one of the Arab trouble-makers, hitting a member of the crew, even the FO or FB coming out the cockpit door.

Granted in THIS situation, nobody should have been opening the cockpit door, but I don't trust every random US citizen with no criminal record to distinguish a situation like this one, from a situation in which an Arab-looking passenger is genuinely notifying a crew member of, say, his father having symptoms of a heart attack, and understandably sounding/acting agitated. The crew might well be able to discern that this was a genuine report and act accordingly, while a passenger some rows back might rush to assume the worst and shoot.

I would, however, like to see flight attendants trained to carry and use firearms to handle situations like this, and to ensure that there are always armed crew members on board, and out among the passengers, aware of emerging problems on a real-time basis.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.